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Problems and Solutions
Most problems you may encounter while operating your printer have simple solutions.
You can also use the self test to determine whether the printer or the computer is causing the problem. See Printing a Self Test for instructions on printing a self test.
To pinpoint communication problems, experienced users may want to use the printer’s hex dump mode, described on Printing a Hex Dump.
To clear a paper jam, see Clearing a Paper Jam.
Power supply problems
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The control panel lights come on briefly, but then go off and stay off.
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Cause
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What to do
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The printer’s voltage rating does not match the voltage of your electrical outlet.
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Check the printer and the outlet voltage ratings. If the voltages do not match, unplug the printer immediately and contact your dealer.
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Warning:
Do not reconnect the power cord to an electrical outlet that has the wrong voltage for your printer. |
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The printer does not work and the control panel lights are off even though you turned on the printer.
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Cause
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What to do
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The power cord is not properly plugged into the electrical outlet or your printer.
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Turn off the printer, and make sure the power cord is firmly plugged into the electrical outlet and the printer, if necessary. Then turn on the printer.
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The electrical outlet does not work.
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Use a different outlet.
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Single-sheet paper loading or feeding problems
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The printer does not load single-sheet paper or does not feed it properly.
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Cause
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What to do
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The paper release lever is set to a tractor position.
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Set the paper release lever to the single-sheet position. For more information on setting the paper release lever, see Setting the Paper Release Lever.
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Continuous paper is in the paper path.
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Set the paper release lever to the appropriate tractor position and press the Load/Eject button to feed the continuous paper to the standby position. Then set the paper release lever to the single-sheet position. (See Setting the Paper Release Lever for more information on switching to printing on single sheets.)
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The paper on the paper guide is positioned too far to the right for the printer to detect that it is there.
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Move the paper a little to the left.
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Single-sheet paper is not loaded properly.
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See Loading Single Sheets in the Top Paper Slot or Loading Single Sheets in the Front Paper Slot for instructions on loading single-sheet paper.
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The paper-thickness lever is not set correctly.
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Set the paper-thickness lever to match the thickness of your paper. See Adjusting the Paper Thickness Lever.
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Your paper is creased, old, too thin, or too thick.
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See Paper for the information on the paper specifications. Use new, clean sheets of paper.
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The printer does not fully eject a single sheet.
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Cause
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What to do
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Your paper is too long.
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Press the Load/Eject button to eject the sheet. Make sure the page length of your paper is within the range specified for single-sheet paper see Paper. Also check and adjust the paper size setting in your application or printer driver.
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Continuous paper loading or feeding problems
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The printer does not load continuous paper or does not feed it properly.
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Cause
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What to do
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The paper release lever is not set correctly.
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Set the paper release lever to the tractor position for the paper source you want to use. For more information on setting the paper release lever, see Setting the Paper Release Lever.
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Single-sheet paper is in the paper path.
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Set the paper release lever to the single-sheet position and press the Load/Eject button to eject the sheet. Then set the paper release lever back to the appropriate tractor position. (See Setting the Paper Release Lever for more information on switching to printing on continuous paper.)
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Continuous paper is not loaded properly.
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See Loading paper onto the front push tractor, Loading paper onto the rear push tractor, or Loading paper onto the pull tractor for instructions on loading continuous paper on the tractor you want to use.
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The paper-thickness lever is not set correctly.
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Set the paper-thickness lever to match the thickness of your paper. See Adjusting the Paper Thickness Lever.
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The printer does not feed continuous paper to the standby position.
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Cause
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What to do
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You did not tear off the printed pages before pressing the Load/Eject button.
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Tear off the printed pages at the perforation. Then press the Load/Eject button to feed the paper backward to the standby position.
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Wrong top-of-form position
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Printing starts too high or low on the page.
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Cause
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What to do
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The paper size setting in your application software or printer driver does not match the size of the paper you are using.
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Check the paper size setting in your application or printer driver.
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The printer’s page length settings for the front or rear tractor do not match the size of the continuous paper you are using.
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Check the page length settings for the front or rear tractor using the printer’s default-setting mode. See About Your Printer’s Default Settings or Canceling Printing.
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The top margin or top-of-form position setting is incorrect.
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Check the margin or top-of-form position setting in your application software. See Recommended printable area for more information.
Adjust the top-of-form position in Micro Adjust mode. However, settings made in Windows applications override settings made in Micro Adjust mode. See Adjusting the Top-of-Form Position.
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The printer you want to use is not selected in your software.
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Choose the correct printer from the Windows desktop or in your application before printing.
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You moved the paper using the knob while the printer was on.
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Adjust the top-of-form position using the Micro Adjust feature. See Adjusting the Top-of-Form Position.
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Caution:
Never use the knob to adjust the top-of-form position; this may damage the printer or cause it to lose the top-of-form position. |
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Wrong tear-off position
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The printer prints on (or too far away from) the perforation of your continuous paper.
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Cause
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What to do
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The tear-off position setting is incorrect.
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Adjust the tear-off position using the Micro Adjust feature. See Adjusting the tear-off position.
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You moved the paper using the knob while the printer was on.
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Adjust the tear-off position using the Micro Adjust feature. See Adjusting the tear-off position.
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Caution:
Never use the knob to adjust the tear-off position; this may damage the printer or cause it to lose the tear-off position. |
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The printer you want to use is not selected in your software.
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Choose the correct printer from the Windows desktop or in your application before printing.
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The paper size setting in your application or printer driver does not match the size of the paper you are using.
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Check the paper size setting in your application or printer driver.
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The printer’s page length settings for the front or rear tractor do not match the size of the continuous paper you are using.
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Check the page length settings for the front or rear tractor using the printer’s default-setting mode. See About Your Printer’s Default Settings or Canceling Printing.
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Printing or printout quality problems
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The printer does not print when the computer sends data.
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Cause
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What to do
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The printer is paused.
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Press the Pause button.
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The printer cover is open.
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Close the printer cover and press the Pause button to resume printing.
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The interface cable is not plugged in securely.
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Check that both ends of the cable between the printer and the computer are plugged in securely. If the cable is connected correctly, run a self test as described in Printing a Self Test.
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Your interface cable does not meet the printer and/or computer specifications.
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Use an interface cable that meets the requirements of both the printer and computer. See Optional interface cards and your computer documentation.
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Your software is not properly set up for your printer.
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Select your printer from the Windows desktop or in your application. If necessary, install or reinstall the printer driver software.
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The printer makes noise, but nothing prints or printing stops abruptly
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Cause
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What to do
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The paper-thickness lever is set incorrectly.
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Set the paper-thickness lever to match the thickness of your paper. See Adjusting the Paper Thickness Lever.
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The ribbon has too much slack, the ribbon has come loose, or the ribbon cartridge is not installed properly.
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Remove any slack in the ribbon by turning the ribbon-tightening knob, or reinstall the ribbon cartridge as described in Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge.
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The printout is faint.
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Cause
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What to do
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The paper-thickness lever is set incorrectly for your paper.
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Move the paper-thickness lever to a lower setting.
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The ribbon is worn out.
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Replace the ribbon cartridge as described in Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge.
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The printout has gaps.
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Cause
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What to do
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The paper-thickness lever is not set correctly.
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Set the paper-thickness lever to match the thickness of your paper. See Available Paper Paths for continuous paper, or Available Paper Types and Paper Slots for single sheets.
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Part of the printout is missing, or dots are missing in random positions.
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Cause
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What to do
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The ribbon has too much slack, the ribbon has come loose, or the ribbon cartridge is not installed properly.
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Remove any slack in the ribbon by turning the ribbon-tightening knob, or reinstall the ribbon cartridge as described in Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge.
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The ribbon is worn out.
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Replace the ribbon cartridge as described in Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge.
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Lines of dots are missing in the printout.
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Cause
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What to do
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The print head is damaged.
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Stop printing and contact your dealer to have the print head replaced.
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Caution:
Never replace the print head yourself; you may damage the printer. Also, other parts of the printer must be checked when the print head is replaced. |
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All the text is printed on the same line.
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Cause
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What to do
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No line feed command is sent at the end of each line of text.
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Turn on the auto line feed setting using the printer’s default-setting mode or the EPSON Remote! utility so that the printer automatically adds a line feed code to each carriage return. See About Your Printer’s Default Settings or Canceling Printing.
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The printout has extra blank lines between lines of text.
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Cause
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What to do
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Two line feed commands are being sent at the end of each line of text.
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Turn off the auto line feed setting using the printer’s default-setting mode. See About Your Printer’s Default Settings or Canceling Printing.
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The line space setting in your application software is incorrect.
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Adjust the line space setting in your application software.
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The skip-over-perforation setting is on.
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Turn off the skip-over-perforation setting in the default-setting mode. See About Your Printer’s Default Settings or Canceling Printing.
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The printer prints strange symbols, incorrect fonts, or other inappropriate characters.
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Cause
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What to do
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Your printer and computer are not communicating correctly.
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Make sure that you are using the correct interface cable and that the communications protocol is correct. See Optional interface cards and your computer documentation. If you installed an optional serial interface card, also see Installing an Interface Card.
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The wrong character table is selected in your software.
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Select the correct character table using your software, the default-setting mode. The character table setting in your software overrides settings made in the default-setting mode.
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The printer you want to use is not selected in your software.
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Choose the correct printer from the Windows desktop or in your application before printing.
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Your application software is not configured correctly for your printer.
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Make sure that your application software is set up correctly for your printer. See your application documentation. If necessary, install or reinstall the printer driver software.
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Software settings override settings you make using the default-setting mode, EPSON Remote!, or the control panel buttons.
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Use your application software to select the font.
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Vertical printed lines are not aligned.
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Cause
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What to do
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Bidirectional printing, which is the printer’s standard printing mode, is out of alignment.
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Use the printer’s bidirectional adjustment mode to correct this problem. See Aligning Vertical Lines in Your Printout.
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Network problems
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A communication error occurs
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Cause
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What to do
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Are multiple users are logged into a single computer at the same time?
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On a Windows 7/Vista (32 bit/64 bit)/XP (64 bit) system with multiple users, a communication error may occur when switching to a new user and starting a new print job while the previous user is still printing.
Make sure that the print job for the first user is complete and that user is logged off before switching to a new user and starting a new print job.
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You are unable to monitor the shared printer using EPSON Status Monitor 3
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Cause
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What to do
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Are you using a Windows XP (64-bit)/Vista (32-bit/64-bit) print server with a Windows 2000 client?
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When using an operating environment with this combination, the error window for EPSON Status Monitor 3 may not pop up on the client when an error occurs.
Please keep EPSON Status Monitor 3 running when using the printer.
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